Science literacy for all Americans has been the rallying cry of science education in the United States for decades. Regardless, Americans continue to fall short when it comes to keeping pace with other developed nations on international science education assessments. To combat this problem, recent national reforms have reinvigorated the discussion of what and how we should teach science, advocating for the integration of disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science practices. In the biological sciences, teaching the core idea of evolution in ways consistent with reforms is fraught with challenges. Not only is it difficult to observe biological evolution in action, it is nearly impossible to engage students in authentic science practices in the context of evolution. One way to overcome these challenges is through the use of evolving populations of digital organisms.Avida-ED is digital evolution software for education that allows for the integration of science practice and content related to evolution. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Avida-ED on teaching and learning evolution and the nature of science. To accomplish this I conducted a nationwide, multiple-case study, documenting how instructors at various institutions were using Avida-ED in their classrooms, factors influencing implementation decisions, and effects on student outcomes. I found that all of the participating instructors held views on teaching and learning that were well aligned with reform-based pedagogy, and although instructors used Avida-ED in a variety of ways, all adopted learner-centered pedagogical strategies that focused on the use of inquiry. After implementation, all of the instructors indicated that Avida-ED had allowed them to teach evolution and the nature of science in ways consistent with their personal teaching philosophies. In terms of assessment outcomes, students in lower-division courses significantly improved both their understanding and acceptance of evolution after using Avida-ED, and learning of content was positively associated with increased acceptance. Although student learning outcomes and instructor familiarity with Avida-ED were not associated with student affective response to the program, instructor familiarity was highly influential with regard to both how Avida-ED was implemented and student affective response, particularly student interest, enjoyment, and self-efficacy. The results of this dissertation provide strong evidence suggesting that Avida-ED is a promising tool for teaching and learning about evolution in reform-based ways, and suggest that improving instructor pedagogical content knowledge with regard to research-based tools like Avida-ED may be implicated in generating student interest in STEM.
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